The National Gallery launches an open call for a new digital experience
The National Gallery, London.
LONDON.—
Emerging UK-based creatives are invited to propose a playful and experimental digital experience to be displayed on the Gallery’s ‘Connected Canvas’ of high-definition screens in the Sainsbury Wing entrance.
The National Gallery has today announced a new open call for an ambitious digital commission that makes use of its sophisticated visual and audio systems which were installed in the Sainsbury Wing Entrance as part of its refurbishment in 2025.
The open call invites UK-based emerging creative practitioners, technologists, designers, multi-disciplinary teams and creative collectives to submit expressions of interest. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to a one-day workshop at the National Gallery before developing a final pitch. One project will be commissioned, for a total commission fee of £15,000.
The ‘Connected Canvas’ is made up micro-LED screens spanning 14 metres by 3 metres. It is used daily during opening hours to support visitors and bring the wealth of Gallery art and activities into the space in a continues content programme. For this commission, the screens will be used as one connected digital environment, inviting visitors to encounter the Gallery’s paintings in more playful, experimental and unexpected ways.
The brief asks applicants to respond to the National Gallery’s paintings, the Sainsbury Wing entrance and principles developed with NG Citizens, the Gallery’s Citizens’ Assembly, to create an experience that reveals human stories within paintings and to help visitors make meaningful connections with the collection.
The Gallery is looking for ideas that use digital media imaginatively and purposefully - sparking curiosity and revealing unexpected perspectives.
The final work will run as a scheduled ‘takeover’ during the Gallery’s Friday evening late openings, transforming a busy public entrance into a space for digital storytelling, experimentation and welcome.
Lawrence Chiles, Head of Digital Services at the National Gallery said “The Connected Canvas open call builds on everything we have learned through the Gallery’s NGX programme, where collaborative development processes have helped create some of our most innovative digital experiences. We are excited to open the Gallery's new digital infrastructure to a new generation of creative practitioners and to see how they use it creatively to help audiences connect with the collection in surprising and inspiring ways.”
